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Did The Vikings Really Try To Swap Justin Jefferson For Malik Nabers?

Trey Daubert / NFL, NFL Draft / May 30, 2024

Malik Nabers Justin Jefferson — Did the Vikings really try to swap Justin Jefferson for Malik Nabers? Maybe Jefferson is more available than we think. (Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Did The Vikings Really Try To Swap Justin Jefferson For Malik Nabers?

The Vikings had a great draft. It’s the highest grade I’ve ever given them under the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah led front office. It turns out their draft almost ended up wildly different. So much so that Justin Jefferson was almost traded and Minnesota almost moved up for Malik Nabers to be his replacement.

“Pssst,” Waters writes. “There was buzz at draft time that the Vikings wanted to move from No. 11 to No. 5, not to pick a quarterback but to get LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was picked No. 6 by the Giants. Had that trade occurred, Jefferson would have been traded and Nabers would have been the No. 1 receiver.”

The Giants, of course, turned the card in for Nabers with the six. Had Nabers fallen, I wonder how much things would be different. The weird part is the Vikings changed course and went quarterback instead. Did they view Nabers in the same class as Jefferson? The idea that you’re willing to take a quarterback but not willing to do so if Nabers is on the board certainly raises questions.

Let’s just be honest about what’s going on here. Justin Jefferson is available. He’s just not really available because you’re going to have to give him a $35 million per year salary and give Minnesota a boatload of draft picks to the point where it’s probably not worth it.

It’s important to also note the Vikings have a pattern of doing this. They did the exact same thing with Stefon Diggs. That’s how they got Jefferson, in the first place. If the price is right, maybe Minnesota will do what they did with Diggs on Jefferson down the road.

Is A Justin Jefferson Trade As Absurd As Some Think?

Jefferson most likely will be in Minnesota but it’s crazy to think about just how close it got to him not being there. Had Nabers fallen to the Vikings, things are very different right now.

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